Strength
by TreenBeen
Summary: Burt hated what he saw on his son's face. Fear. Burt's fury swelled. Two on one and some little bastard filming the whole thing. And where, where were the damn teachers?    Rated T for violence and mild cursing as well as offensive terminology.


**A/n: First Glee fanfiction! Whoot whoot! Based on a livejournal prompt where Burt gets a video in an email showing Kurt being beaten up. Took forever, for some reason… but here it is. Enjoy! Read and review!**

** Rated T for offensive language, mild swearing, and violence. **

Burt Hummel sighed to himself as he clicked the delete button on another spam email. They never seemed to stop coming. No matter how many you delete, there would still be a billion more waiting.

He took of his cap and rubbed a hand over his scalp, replacing the hat again as he settled further into the spinning chair to read more emails. He had put this off long enough. He hated the computer, really hated it. Didn't understand how his kid used the dang thing. He could barely work it. So he put off reading his emails, but today things were slow in the shop, and Kurt wouldn't be home for another half hour or so, so he decided to just get it over and done with.

Burt quickly lost track of the time. He was just about to read one of the last few emails, almost an hour later, when a new email popped up into his inbox. He checked the clock and decided to finish up with one last email before calling Kurt to ask why he was late. He opened it and saw no message, but there was something that said "file attached." Curious, he clicked on it. Another window appeared that said, "download complete" a few minutes later. He clicked the little button that said, "open file." Quicktime player popped up. A video. Burt smiled, thinking it was probably one of those funny Yoob-tube things that he had heard Kurt talk about. He checked to see who sent it to him. He didn't recognize the email address, but he wasn't really surprised by this. He never used the email anyway. He pushed play on the video…and nearly vomited.

Kurt… it was Kurt. The video was poor quality, and moved around a bit, but stayed mostly focused on his son. His son was walking in the school parking lot towards his car, pulling out his keys when someone pushed him from behind. Kurt stumbled, dropping the keys, before turning to face the bulky teen that had shoved him. He looked angry, and a retort seemed to be hot on his lips, but when Kurt saw who it was, his expression immediately changed. Burt hated what he saw on his son's face. _Fear_. It was quickly replaced with a forced bored expression. It was a good cover, but Burt knew his son. And his son was scared of this guy.

He could hear words through the static sound of the phone recording. "Sup, homo?" This was accompanied with another shove, this time to Kurt's shoulders, and Kurt stumbled back, falling against his car. Kurt shook his head, and moved to grab his keys off of the ground. The other teen kicked the keys under the car before Kurt could grab them, and grabbed Kurt around the wrist, twisting his arm up and behind his back before Kurt even realized what was happening. Kurt let out a yelp.

"Aww, is the fairy going to cry?" another voice said, and another teen came into view. Burt's fury swelled. Two on one… and some sick little bastard filming it all… and where, _where_ were the damn teachers?

The first teen was still holding his son's arm in a painful position, and he could see Kurt's lips move, but the phone didn't pick up the sound. "_What_ was that, queer?" said the teen, twisting Kurt's arm up further. Kurt opened his mouth, but didn't manage any words before a fist slammed into his cheek. Burt fumed.

Kurt's head flew to the side, before he just let it hang. He stood there for a moment, eyes closed, as the teen who had punched him leaned down to talk to him. Then Kurt's foot flew up to catch the guy right where it hurt. Burt smirked a little. That was his boy…but then the other kid caught Kurt's foot. Oh no.

"You're gonna pay for that, fag." Kurt was thrown against his car again, and then punched in the stomach before he could move away. Burt couldn't look away. _Why _couldn't he look away? Kurt fell to his knees, clutching his stomach in agony. _My boy…_

Kurt was punched… kicked… _beaten_. And Burt watched it all. At one point one of the kids even picked Kurt up, pulled his arms behind his back while Kurt struggled, and then held him there while the other kid punched him in the stomach… again… and again… and again. But Burt barely saw the bullies. His eyes were on his son. Kurt kept his eyes closed and his lower lip wedged between his teeth. There were a few times when he couldn't help but cry out, but for the most part he didn't make a sound. Until…

Kurt was mostly limp at this point, whether from pain or resignation, Burt wasn't sure. Then one of the little bastards said, "Can't wait until we show this to your dad. Maybe he'll keep you in line once he sees what happens. Or maybe we'll just have to go down to his garage and teach him, too." Kurt's head flew up at that, and he lunged as far forward as he could with his arms pinned behind his back, snarling threats at the other teen. He must have caught the guy holding him by surprise, because he got one arm free. When he lunged forward again, however, the guy pulled on the arm still in his grasp… hard. Burt heard a sickening pop as his son's shoulder came out of its socket, and Kurt let out a yell of pain, dropping to his knees as his arm was released. Burt felt ill. Kurt cradled his arm to his chest, as the teen who had threatened Burt walked forward. Grabbing Kurt by the hair, he forced him to look up. Burt couldn't clearly see his son's face, but he knew that Kurt probably looked as defiant as ever. He had one hell of a kid, that was for sure.

The bastard holding Kurt's hair shook his head, like he was disappointed in Kurt, and that small movement of the head was enough for Burt to see who it was… Karofsky. Burt was furious. He knew he never should have let Kurt go back there. Not while that menace was still there. He knew that idiot was still messing with his kid, but he hadn't heard of anything major, from Kurt or Finn, since Kurt had gone back. Shit, Kurt had even seemed happier; he was back with his friends after all. None of them had even seen this coming.

"Hummel, how many times do we have to have this conversation?" Karofsky said as he pulled harshly on Kurt's hair. "How many times do I have to tell you that you-"

"Hey!" The two bullies turned at the sound of the voice, and Burt could have cried in relief as Finn and the Puckerman kid can into view. Karofsky didn't let go of his son's hair though. "Karofsky, what the hell man?" Burt could hear how upset Finn was by what he was seeing as he marched up to Karofsky and pulled him off of Kurt's locks while Puckerman helped Kurt up. "What do you th-"

Burt was up and scrambling for his phone before the video ended, though it ended quickly after that. He had to call Kurt. He had to know where his son was...

Finn answered on the third ring.

"Burt, listen… Kurt…did you check your email?"

"Yeah, Finn I checked it… is he ok? How did you know I got the video?" he asked as he climbed into his car.

"Puck sent it… as evidence. He said that if we had this footage, if it showed Karofsky's face, we could get him out of here. Kurt's… we took him to the hospital, his shoulder was pretty messed up…"

"You did the right thing, kid. That was smart thinking on Puckerman's part. First thing tomorrow I'm going to your school, then the cops. This ends now. Are you still at the hospital? Tell me where you are so I can-"

"We're almost done… the doctor told us he's giving Kurt some pain killers and putting a sling on his arm, and then we can take him home… he doesn't look so good though Burt. I mean they said he's ok but… he's hurt."

"I know, kid I know… listen, I'm going to go home and set things up for him, ok? Bring him home, Finn. I'll see you soon."

"Ok, Burt… see you soon." Burt ended the call and pulled onto his street. He walked into the house to see Carole sitting on the couch. She took one look at him and stood up, quickly walking to him asking what was wrong.

Burt sighed heavily. "Kurt…" was all he managed to get out before his throat seemed to close in on itself. Carole ushered him to the couch and made him sit down.

"Burt, honey, what happened? Is Kurt ok, where are the boys?" she asked.

"He's ok… Finn's ok… Finn says he's ok… Carole… they… Karofsky…" Carole's eyes widened in understanding.

"How bad, Burt?" she asked quietly.

"Bad… they… Carole, the little bastards beat him… and they filmed the whole thing…"

"What?" Carole was horrified. "How do you…"

"Puckerman sent it to me… evidence… I…" Carole nodded.

"Evidence. Good. First thing tomorrow, Burt, we are going to that school and seeing that boy expelled. Can we take this to the police? This is the last time this will ever… I can't believe…" she sighed. "But for now, we focus on Kurt. We make sure he's alright."

God, he loved her. He pulled her against him, holding her tight for a moment. When they pulled apart, he asked her very hesitantly…

"Carole… do you think you could… if I give you money, can you and Finn… Puckerman too if he wants, could you…" Carole nodded.

"I'll take them to a movie and dinner. Be with Kurt. He's going to need his dad tonight. I'd like to see him for myself, though. Make sure he's alright." Burt nodded.

"Of course, thank you. I wouldn't normally ask but…"

"I understand. Like I said… he's going to need his daddy." She gave him a small sad smile.

When the door opened about fifteen minutes later, Burt was up like a shot. Finn and Puckerman walked in the door, each carefully watching Kurt. _Kurt_.

Kurt's arm was in a sling. His left eye was black. There was bruising along his jaw. His shirt and the knees of his pants were torn, revealing scrapes and bruises. There was a remaining smear of blood under his nose, where it looked like he had tried to wipe it away unsuccessfully. His hair was a mess. He looked exhausted.

And it broke Burt's heart. Kurt's eyes flicked up to his before he looked just over his shoulder, and Burt knew it was because he was trying not to break down in front of everyone.

Burt glanced at Carole. She looked Kurt up and down, caught him gently by the shoulders, and said, "How you feeling, honey?" Kurt shrugged and gave a tiny sad smile. Carole nodded. "You gonna be ok, hon?" Kurt nodded ever so slightly, shuffling his feet a tiny bit. Carole leaned in and whispered something to Kurt, before giving him the most gentle hug she could manage, which still caused him to wince. Then she shuffled off to get her purse.

Finn and Puck stood awkwardly in the doorway. Burt nodded at them as Kurt stared at his feet, and Puckerman nodded back. The unspoken thank you was clear. Finn looked at Burt worriedly. Burt glanced at Kurt and then nodded to Finn, a completely different nod than the one he had given Puckerman. Finn understood. Kurt would be ok. He was strong.

Carole returned and ushered the two boys out the door, leaving Burt standing with Kurt in the entry way. They stood in silence for a few moments.

"Come here, kid." Burt said, opening his arms. Kurt remained where he was for a few moments, shaking, trying not to break down, before he fell forward with a cry.

"Dad-" he managed through his sobs, his voice small and broken. Burt held his son as he cried.

Not too long after, Kurt cried himself out. He relaxed in his father's grip, but Burt didn't let go. He shifted his grip on his son and walked them to the couch. The two sat down, and Burt pulled his son gently down until he was lying with his head in his lap. Carding his fingers through Kurt's messy hair with one hand, he pulled the afghan of the couch, covering Kurt with it. They sat in silence for a long time.

Finally, Kurt spoke. "Did… did Puck really send you…"

"Yes." Kurt sighed.

"I was afraid of that." Burt started. Had he heard that correctly?

"What?"

"I- I didn't want you to… to _see_ it. I mean… I know you know what happened… but… I don't want you to have to watch it happen…" Kurt's voice lowered drastically, so Burt had to strain to hear what his son said next. "I was so weak…"

"No, kid." Burt said. "You were strong. You didn't let them get to you. You fought back as hard as you could, even two on one, kid, and I could not be more proud of you for that. You are so strong, Kurt. And now we have evidence, proof of how that guy treats you, and we are going to fight this, kid."

"We're going to get him expelled again? For good?" Kurt asked, and Burt felt immense sadness at the almost unnoticeable hope in his kid's voice.

"Yeah buddy… for good. We might even get him sent to jail." Kurt thought for a few minutes and then nodded.

After a few minutes of silence, Kurt whispered, "I'm scared, daddy. What if it doesn't work? What if we just make him more angry? I know we have to try but… I don't feel strong enough for that." Burt thought for a moment, before leaning down to press a kiss on Kurt's temple.

"Then let me be your strength, kiddo." Kurt reached up and grabbed his hand.

"You always have been."

Burt smiled.


End file.
